Today, having a phone with an operating system is almost synonymous with using WhatsApp. Thanks to its simplicity and compatibility (and it was one of the first multiplatform chat applications to be launched on the market) its use is really high and it quickly and constantly engulfs any other that is launched on the market. In addition, being free has given it a plus compared to users.
Well, all this could change if we pay attention to what is indicated in androidworld.nl. On this page it is said that, due to a statement from a spokesperson for the developer company, it is possible that in a not long time this application become paid, so it could lose some of its charm. Of course, it is true that the cost of WhatsApp on Google Play would not be exactly high: 1 dollar.
This would be a movement in the opposite direction to what is usually done: a paid application is launched and, depending on how it works in the market, it is decided to keep it that way or it goes free (an example of this is the Dead Trigger game). The point is that this chat program would have a cost to first time users when downloading since it was launched (we must not forget that for iOS it is already necessary to pay), what we will have to see if it occurs if it has an effect on its use.
The big winners
If the information is confirmed, there would be some programs in the Android universe that would clearly benefit. One of them could be Google Talk, which is a program that is generally integrated into Android terminals and that offers great options when it comes to chatting. Of course, in the exchange of files it has great deficiencies.
Other applications that could have their opportunity are Chaton (link), an application that is functionally very similar to WhatsApp and that works really well. The others is Line (link), which we already told you about yesterday in Android Ayuda, and that offers all the options that can be asked of an application of this type and, in addition, the possibility of making calls over the Internet.
In short, that the world of chat can suffer a turnaround if WhatsApp happens to have a cost, since the Android users They are not very fond of making payments (especially for something that did not cost before). Of course, the news must be confirmed ... and, if it does, there are other options in the market but, for now, they are not used in a massive way.
But whatsapp is not already paid? Isn't it supposed that a year one requires you to pay € 0.99 / year?
From the official website, when I am going to download the WhatsApp application for Android:
«Please download the latest version of WhatsApp Messenger and enjoy our service free for 1 year! During, or after free trial period you can purchase service for $ 0.99 USD / year. »
better that way we won't be so aware of the phones anymore haha
SUBNORMAL, they should not let us write in public blogs ... WhatsApp ALWAYS since it came out is paid on iPhone and Blackberry, and 99centimos de dollar after the first year on Android. That has been like this for YEARS.
Excuse me ... but I've been using WhatsApp on Android for 2 years and I've never paid a penny.
WhatsApp for Android offers a one-year free trial, although so far, they have been renewing it before it expires.
That you have not paid does not mean that it is not paid.
I am not against having to pay (on iPhone or BlackBerry it has always been like that), what should be clear is that it will cost. Whether it is about buying the application (1 dollar) or charging for each message. If it comes to the former, it seems to me that the value for money is undeniable. Now, if it comes to charging per message then they can already be considered dead: any of the zillions of similar free apps will eat them up. Line, mentioned in the article, for example.
In any case, the "news" published is nothing more than the echo of a hoax.
Thanks for the article ... But I don't fully understand the concept of "becoming paid" ... that I remember ... when I downloaded it it cost me € 0 ...
Miss… you are an iPhone, that's why it cost you € 0,89… it's free for Android, Windows Phone, Symbian, BlackBerry and Nokia S40.
Before saying anything, could you read the WhatsApp license?
WhatsApp is a paid program. On Android (my case), they offer you a one-year free trial. Until now, they have been renewing the free version, but that does not mean that it is free.
But really, why read if we can send an email to 20 people informing that there are 513 HotMail accounts left or send 20 messages to WhatsApp contacts informing that it could be paid?
It would be nice if people read before posting ...
Go fabric, among the bloody messages from WhatsApp contacts like: «WhatsApp will become paid if you do not forward this message to all your contacts or to 20 contacts or such» and that it is paid even online when there is already there a statement that it is a server error, it bothers me a lot. I have been using it for about 2 weeks, and from the first day the program is paid FROM THE FIRST YEAR ON ANDROID, even if it is more or less € 1, but it already is, people do not know or are uneducated, which It annoys me is that people believe that chain messages are useful and that knowing the problems that the program has and that in the end "it is paid", they continue to use this one and not other similar ones, safer and with less problems (Spotbros, LINE , ChatON, Google Talk, etc).
I try to use other programs, but like the rest they don't feel like changing, because I'll have to use it until there is a very serious problem and people throw their hands in their heads ...
Any…. we will go to line or similar ... I already use line ... greetings
What news ... but if WhatsApp has always been paid ...
On Android, its download is free and they give you the first year, then you have to pay $ 0,99 per year to continue using the service.
You could already document yourself before publishing news, because let's go ...
Of course the author has covered himself with glory ... You have echoed a BULL.
Well, dear friends, I do not know on other platforms but on Android it is NOT paid. It has been two or three weeks since my birthday, and although it is true that 15 days before the birthday, WhatsApp sent me a series of messages reminding me that the deadline was running out and that to continue enjoying its service I would have to pay 0 ' € 79, two or three days before WhatsApp sent me another message telling me that the free period was extended. I don't quite remember what the message was like but what I do know is that I haven't paid anything.
Anyway, for € 0'79 I was not going to ruin it, that is clear, but also since I discovered LINE I am staying with it, and from what I have seen my contacts as well.
We'll see. A couple things. I have already expired 2 or 3 years of whatsap trial, ignoring you they return another year.
the other ... please, find out what operating system means. without operating system you have a paper press. Do you know what symbian is?
For the author: All mobiles have an operating system, regardless of whether they have WhatsApp or not.
Ex: symbian v40 is an operating system but it does not have whatsapp, another example is the mobile-poop with grandmother's calculator, it has an operating system but no whatsapp.
Please, someone who writes should at least consult wikipedia in these cases.
As soon as they charge me I erase it and so their fall into the abyss for that there are more than they do the same
what a PATETIC !! not wanting to pay 99 cents for an application you use every day. Anyway, if I were an app developer, I would deny you the right to download it.
What's more, he would call his company so they wouldn't pay him, why wouldn't he offer his services for free like developers do with their applications ??? fucking grabbing.
I think this best sums up the article: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.whatsapp&feature=nav_result&hl=es
Anyway, I don't think that for paying 99 US cents, which in exchange should not be more than 90 Euro cents, we are going to be ruined ... also, it is an application without advertising and somehow they will have to maintain both the people who program, like the servers that provide that service. If it is not with advertising, it will be paying a fee and I believe that 90 cents for a year a service that used to cost you with SMS and costs you 15 cents, that is more than good ...
I have been using WhatsApp for more than two years and I have never had to pay a penny, before my account expires, they renew me. I have Android. And while it is true that the account info tells you that what you have is a free trial, at least I have never had to pay.
Stop being mean! 0,78 a year is a real misery, if you are satisfied with the product, you use it at ease and it gives you a good service, why not pay ??? Do you work for the love of art? I would like to see your face when your boss told you, "No, we have decided not to pay you because the WhatsApp users do not charge for the service they give either." come man to cry somewhere else that you are gypsies.